I believe in reusing and preserving anything you can. Why throw out beautiful windows and replace them with ugly vinyl? The long windows that open onto the frontyard from the living room and master bedroom retain their thick, leaded glass. And built-in drawers and shelves throughout the house have been smartly incorporated in the home's reconfigured open floor plan.
Schacht, originally born in Germany and educated in Europe, moved to Portland in 1883 after the German government claimed his Hamburg home via eminent domain, and he decided to move as far away as possible. While his work over his four-decade career spanned a variety of architectural styles, it has been noted that after 1900, he was "among the first Arts and Crafts-influenced architects to practice west of the Rocky Mountains."
In 1901, when he was 25 years old, Smith bought five acres along the unpaved two-lane Giffin Road, "a little dirt lane" that snaked all the way from El Camino Real up to La Honda. Now called San Antonio Road, it was then used for redwood logging. Gilbert Smith pitched a tent on his property - "amidst the owl clover and California poppies" - while building a house and tank tower. Those structures still stand today, having survived one of the area's worst earthquakes in 1906.
Electric Bowery's renovation of a historic Pasadena, California residence began not with demolition or dramatic gestures, but with careful attention to what already existed. The challenge was determining how to respect its American Craftsman roots while shaping spaces that could coexist with contemporary life. The solution emerged through a dialogue between eras, where new additions spoke to original structures without mimicking their accent.
The cantilevered structure and the level of craftsmanship is what sets this house apart. It creates a sense of harmony with nature that feels incredibly modern.
